Month: September 2012

It’s Friday! And I’m finding a quiet peace in knowing that life is getting back to normal: it’s once again grey in Seattle (after days and days of sunshine, which, I won’t lie, was making me nervous), the regular NFL refs have gone back to work (after a seriously bungled call during last Monday’s game),…

I’m pretty sure Lisa gave me the hat as a joke. Actually, I’m certain that she did. Lisa and I, we seem to have this running gag that’s sprung up between us about hats. It all started with this one, which I bought in Lisa’s company on a chilly but sunny day when we got…

Greetings, replacement refs! I wanted to talk to you a little bit about the officiating that’s gone on so far this season in the NFL. It probably seems weird that I, a travel writer, am weighing in on this issue. I realize I’m sort of unqualified to do so. I’ve never played football, and I’ve…

– The Duke at Queens in Belfast is both homey and palatial – a kind of interesting balance. We were only there for one night, but it was, as the Irish would say, just grand, and the staff was exceedingly kind and helpful.

It is 7:30am here in Seattle, and I woke up more than an hour ago, of my own accord but bleary-eyed, the lingering result of jet-lag after spending 10 days in Ireland. I rubbed my eye, and seeing the purple streak left on the back of my hand from makeup of days before, still stubbornly…

– I love Boston’s North End. I’ve been there countless times on my own, while Rand was busy with work and meetings. But on this last trip to Boston, he had some free time to head there with me. I may have done a little happy dance, because there is nothing greater than being able…

– I’m always up for a bit of decadence. You don’t get hips like mine from being restrained. But there’s the everyday sort of decadence (which involves a bit of cake with breakfast, and a bit with lunch, and hell, some with dinner, too) and then there’s the once-every-few-months-or-my-heart-will-suffer kind of decadence. And Neptune Oyster…

(This is no doubt going to piss some people off. Oh, well. Isn’t that what Tuesdays are for?) I’ve adhered to many of these rules for a while now, and I figured they were common knowledge. But the more I travel, the more I realize that they most certainly aren’t. So please forgive the obviousness…